The Challenge Ahead for New Jersey's Public Schools

In the year since the New Jersey School Boards Association released its first white paper on educational funding and management, An Educational System for the Next Century, the state has made important strides in improving education.

• The state Board of Education adopted curriculum standards that define what we want our children to know and be able to do.

• The state Supreme Court held that school districts do not have to provide automatic increments to teaching staff members after the expiration of a three-year contract. In concurring with arguments presented by NJSBA in this case, the court has helped to level the playing field between school management and employee unions in collective bargaining.

• The state's new school funding system, the Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act of 1996 (CEIFA), planted the seeds for true reform of how we fund and provide special education, although much work still needs to be done.

• The Governor and Legislature enacted a new law easing the process for school districts to share top administrators, thereby providing an opportunity, especially in smaller school systems, to reduce non-instructional costs.

The Challenge Ahead: Funding Schools

CEIFA, New Jersey's new school funding law, fails to address the most pressing deficiencies in our state's method of financing the schools.

• Its foundation level of spending does not guarantee availability of necessary resources for all New Jersey students, nor does it lessen the disparity in educational opportunity between wealthy and poor communities.

• It perpetuates the state's over-reliance on property taxes to fund schools, a major cause of local school districts' varying abilities to raise funds.

• It does not demonstrate a link between expenditure levels and the state's curriculum standards.

Moreover, CEIFA is silent on funding for school construction, a major need in our state.

The Challenge Ahead: Managing Schools

Genuine school reform is not possible unless New Jersey's leaders address long-standing obstacles to cost-efficiency and educational excellence. To prompt effective change, public discussion must take place over issues such as tenure reform and certification, the restrictive state health benefits plan, and the built-in cost of employment resulting from mandated benefits.

An Opportunity

Debate over school funding and education reform does not conclude with enactment of CEIFA in December 1996, neither does the opportunity for positive change.

The constitutionality of the new law is being challenged in court. NJSBA has entered the case as amicus. In addition, the Association will press the state Legislature for further changes in the funding law and ask the state Board of Education to improve the proposed regulations designed to implement CEIFA.

This continuing public discourse allows local school boards to raise educational reform issues in their communities, in discussion with their legislative representatives, and through the news media. NJSBA's White Paper II: The Challenge Ahead for New Jersey's Public Schools can serve as a guidepost for these grass-roots efforts.

New Jersey School Boards Association
Trenton, New Jersey

March 15, 1997

REVISED 5/20/97

White Paper II

1. For a Thorough & Efficient Education: Adequate Funding
2. For a Fair Funding System: A Fair Revenue System
3. For All Students: Standards of Achievement
4. For Educators: Help in Meeting the Challenge
5. For Our Most Challenged Pupils: Effective Reform
6. For the Future: Infusing Technology into Education
7. For Efficiency: Better Coordination of Transportation
8. For All Students: An End to Substandard Facilities
9. For New Jersey: Addressing the Impact of Poverty
10. For Effective Use of School Funds: Shared Services

The Challenge Ahead: Managing Schools

1. For Cost-Efficiency: Reforming the State Health Benefits Program
2. For the Public's Interest: An End to Built-in Employment Costs
   • Automatic Increments
   • Strikes and Job Actions
   • Paid Absences on School Days
   • Mandated Benefits
3. For Genuine School Improvement: Tenure Reform
   • Teachers/Other Professional Employees
   • Middle Management Tenure
   • Secretaries and Janitors
4. For Sound Personnel Decisions:
   • Reforming Seniority/Tenure 'Bumping' Rights
5. For Top-Quality Teaching: Renewable Certification

The Challenge Ahead: Funding Schools

For a Thorough & Efficient Education: Adequate Funding

• Set a "high foundation level" of expenditure for the regular educational program that will guarantee necessary resources for all of New Jersey's public school students.

• Ensure that no district is forced to reduce its educational program.

• Give local communities leeway to spend above the high foundation amount.

• Provide that the state pay at least 50% of the cost of public education statewide; reduce the state's over-reliance on local property taxes to support the schools.

• Fund categorical programs (special education, bilingual education) as "excess cost factors" that are above the high foundation.

• Base all aid on current-year enrollment.

• Ensure that effective use of state aid through strong accountability measures.

• Continue full state funding of teachers' pensions and social security.

• No demonstrated link exists between the state's curriculum standards and CEIFA's funding mechanism.

• CEIFA's "T&E spending level" does not constitute a high foundation. It is too low to guarantee necessary resources for all of New Jersey's public school students. Therefore, it cannot lessen disparity in educational opportunity between wealthy and poor communities. Although CEIFA itself will not force reductions in educational programming in higher spending school districts, proposed regulations to implement the law could make spending (i.e., existing programming) above the T&E spending level vulnerable to voter rejection in the future.

• CEIFA continues the state's over-reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. It does not increase the current proportion of educational costs paid by the state. The new law provides no increase in special education aid, a growing expense for local school districts.

CEIFA meets some of NJSBA's criteria. For example, it bases some state aid on current-year enrollment. It also continues full state funding of teachers' pensions and social security.

For a Fair Funding System: A Fair Revenue System

State revenue policy has a real and direct impact on the degree to which communities must raise funds through local property taxes to pay for schools.

The Problem

• The state Supreme Court in Robinson v. Cahill and Abbott v. Burke has said that New Jersey relies too heavily on local property taxes to fund public schools. This results in wide disparity in the ability of school districts to raise funds for education.

• In New Jersey, the state government pays about 40% of the total cost of public education. (Other states, on the average, pay more than 50%.)

• The rate of increase in state aid for schools has declined far below the rate of increase in fixed costs. The burden on local property taxpayers has increased in proportion.

• Property taxes, by their nature, are regressive falling hardest on those least able to pay, particularly those on fixed incomes.

• The school finance system must adjust the state-to-local funding ratio to satisfy the state Supreme Court's decision in Abbott v. Burke.

• CEIFA, the state's new school funding law, does not address how money is raised for the schools, only how money is spent. Therefore, it cannot relieve New Jersey's over-reliance on local property taxes to fund education.

The Solution

• NJSBA supports increases in state revenues that will increase the state's share of the cost of public elementary and secondary education.

• NJSBA supports development of a state revenue system that will result in the state paying at least 50% of the cost of public education and reduce the over-reliance on property taxes to fund schools.

• NJSBA supports the concept of a "circuit breaker" to limit individual taxpayers' liability for school property taxes to a certain percentage of their personal income. The state would provide the difference between their tax payment and their tax levy through a fair and equitable formula. CEIFA acknowledges the extremely high property-tax burdens facing some school districts. It provides $10.6 million to 55 school districts with exceptionally high tax rates. This additional funding, however, will not come close to resolving the issue that is at the root of New Jersey's school finance problems.

For All Students: Standards of Achievement

NJSBA supports funding of public education based on the academic results we expect students to achieve. Thus, the curriculum standards should determine the level of funding needed. If we want students to meet the standards, districts must be able to provide the necessary textbooks, materials, activities, staffing and facilities to get them there.

Curriculum standards must meet generally accepted criteria in order to be useful.

• They must be clearly understandable, or how will we know what curriculum should be developed to ensure students reach the expected levels of achievement.

• They must be measurable, or how will we be able to tell whether they are achieved.

• They must be achievable, or of what use will be the efforts to reach them.

• They must be affordable, or how will we pay for what is needed to ensure student achievement.

• They must be assessed. If we never check to see whether the standards are being achieved,what is the point of having them?

NJSBA believes that the implementation of curriculum content standards will tell the community, parents, staff and students the expectations districts have for student achievement.

There are curriculum standards in seven content areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Health and Physical Education, Performing and Visual Arts, and World Language. The Commissioner of Education has also recommended standards covering five cross-content standard areas. These are Career Planning and Workplace Readiness; Information and Technology; Critical Thinking/Decision-making/Problem-solving; Self-management; and Safety. NJSBA supports making programs available to implement standards in these areas as long as sufficient funding is provided to allow for their effective implementation.

Standards are guidelines against which boards can measure student achievement. If students are meeting the curriculum standards, we can then consider raising the bar. If there are weaknesses or gaps in achievement, then boards and their administrators must discuss whether to further realign curriculum, increase and/or refocus professional development, or improve evaluation of staff.

State curriculum standards do not represent establishment of a state curriculum, which NJSBA would oppose. While setting the expected levels of achievement in the subject areas, the state leaves to local boards the decisions on how to get there. Boards must determine, with the recommendation of their chief school administrators, the courses, curriculum, equipment and related materials necessary to ensure student achievement.

NJSBA supports the state's plan to phase in the use of the new 4th grade test and to realign the 8th and 11th grades tests in order to assess achievement levels for the curriculum standards.

NJSBA supports elimination of existing curricular mandates, both in statute and regulations, made unnecessary by the new curriculum standards.

For Educators: Help in Meeting the Challenge

For successful implementation of the curriculum standards, professional development for staff is critical. Unless staff members are able to enhance and expand their own knowledge and skills to meet the demands of the new standards, there is little likelihood that students will achieve them.

• NJSBA believes that the state must provide sufficient funding for the development of relevant and effective teacher training.

• NJSBA believes that districts should establish short- and long-range plans for professional development.

• NJSBA believes that training should be based on supervisory evaluations of staff strengths and weaknesses in bringing students up to the curriculum standards. Specifically, these evaluations should form the basis of short- and long-range plans for training.

• NJSBA believes that supervisors, also, will need training to increase their skills as evaluators and to assist them in becoming better curricular leaders.

• NJSBA supports development of a variety of options to enable school districts and their staffs to attain professional development goals. Options may include college course work, pre-service and in-service programs, and training opportunities offered through consortia of school districts and/or colleges, networking, school/business partnerships, interactive television and other advanced technologies, and professional academies.

For Our Most Challenged Pupils: Effective Reform

• Is based on the type of educational services needed by students (rather than their medical classification).

• Neither encourages over-classification, nor compromises districts' ability to provide needed services.

• Provides an adequate state share of special education costs and adequate state oversight.

NJSBA opposes the use of artificial caps on the number of special education students for whom state aid is provided.

• NJSBA secured an amendment to eliminate such an arbitrary limit from the state's new school funding law, the Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act of 1996 (CEIFA).

NJSBA opposes the use of medical disabilities as the basis for classifying students who need special education services. This approach gives children a medical label that does not necessarily correlate with the level of services required.

• CEIFA compressed the state's previous 21 medically based special education funding categories into four. However, these four categories are based on medical disability, rather than the educational services needed.

CEIFA requires the Commissioner of Education to review the appropriateness of the new classification system after one year and to adjust the tiers and their funding levels as necessary. NJSBA will work closely with the state Department of Education and the Legislature to develop a plan that eliminates medical labels entirely and focuses funding on the appropriate level of educational services.

NJSBA advocates four levels of special education funding based on the type of services needed by the students:

• Early intervention and preventive services to help students before they need more costly special education services.

• Regular education with related services, such as transportation, counseling and remedial speech and language that permit the student to continue in a regular classroom setting.

• Part-time special education , for students needing special instruction in some, but not all, subjects or areas.

• Full-time special education programming, consisting of self-contained classes run by the school district or other agencies.

NJSBA believes the special education funding system should not obstruct school districts' efforts to place students in the least-restrictive environment.

• It should provide state funding for the services that enable placement of some special education students in the regular classroom.

• It should allow state funds to follow the student, rather than restrict funding to specialized programming.

• Policy decisions by the state education Commissioner, aimed at controlling special education expenditures, should encourage increased use of special education services in the classroom.

NJSBA believes New Jersey's special education regulations which have been the source of increasing costs should more closely reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education. The federal regulations do not mandate class-size limits and require fewer child study team evaluations than take place in New Jersey, for example.

NJSBA supports state assumption of many of the costs of special education now borne by local school districts. The Association estimates that local districts pay the majority of the costs for special education a state and federally mandated program.

NJSBA believes that the state should pay the extraordinary costs of out-of-district placements. Currently, local school districts pay these costs which can exceed $100,000 a year.

• A provision of CEIFA, supported by NJSBA, allows school districts to appeal catastrophic costs per placement of more than $40,000 to a review panel for possible state reimbursement. In some cases, districts can also appeal placements of less than $40,000.

• CEIFA also places expenditures for new special education placements beyond $40,000 a year outside the district's spending growth limitation (or CAP).

• Immediate relief, however, is needed by districts struggling under the huge financial burden of high-cost out-of-district placements.

NJSBA believes the state should provide aid for child study team costs. At present, the state provides no financial support for the costs of the child study team, a group of professionals that recommends whether or not a child should be placed in special education programming.

• Although not directly related to cost, proposed state special education regulation would give school districts flexibility in selecting professionals for child study teams. NJSBA supports this change which would give districts the option of using the types of professionals they believe are best suited for the particular child and type or level of services needed.

For the Future: Infusing Technology into Education

To reach that goal, the Association encourages the state Legislature and the Governor to ensure sufficient funding to enable districts to meet the technological aspects of the curriculum standards.

NJSBA also encourages the state Department of Education to:

• Identify professional development opportunities to assist district staff in improving their skills and knowledge in the use of technology.

• Provide leadership in the creation of a library resource network, linking schools to CD-ROM technology, educational software and reference/research materials.

• Identify and provide incentives for one district in each county to develop and implement a technology plan, including training centers.

For Efficiency: Better Coordination of Transportation

NJSBA supports state payment of 100% of approved costs for state-mandated pupil transportation.

To this end, NJSBA supports efforts that will:

• Enable school districts to make maximum use of school bus capacity and transportation routes.

• Remove obstacles to school district efforts to share transportation services.

The Association seeks a transportation aid formula that promotes efficiency through such factors as optimal route design, staggered school openings, mixing pupils from various schools on the same route, and coordinating school calendars among public school districts and non-public schools.

NJSBA supports ongoing state assessment of local district busing services to ensure that school boards have available the most cost-effective and efficient methods of providing transportation.

For All Students: An End to Sub-Standard Facilities

To that end, NJSBA believes that New Jersey's school finance system should provide aid on an equalized basis for capital expenditures and debt service with special aid for low-wealth districts that have severe facility needs.

• In spite of New Jersey's $6-billion-plus need for new and upgraded school facilities, CEIFA provides no new money for repairs or new school construction.

The Association supports establishment of a revolving loan fund in the Department of Education for the construction and repair of school facilities. The fund would also be supported by uncommitted reserves from the Fund for the Support of Free Public Schools, appropriations of the Legislature, investment income and repayment of loans.

NJSBA recognizes that the state has the responsibility to set reasonable and necessary guidelines for health and safety in school building construction.

NJSBA believes that many factors intensify the urgent need to upgrade school facilities:

• Early childhood education programs and full-day kindergarten, which are building blocks of future academic success, cannot expand unless the necessary facilities are available.

• The increased emphasis on technology in the classroom will require an across-the-board upgrading of facilities. At a minimum, computers require additional telephone lines for modems and adequate electrical wiring all of which come with a high price tag. Recent studies have shown that retro-fitting older buildings to accommodate changing technology can cost millions of dollars. Yet, new construction, an alternative to retro-fitting, is even costlier.

For New Jersey: Addressing the Impact of Poverty

To this end, NJSBA supports innovative, individualized programming in school districts with a significant concentration of economically disadvantaged students. Such programming, as the state Supreme Court noted in the second Abbott v. Burke decision, is needed to "wipe out [these students'] disadvantages as much as a school district can."

NJSBA supports the concept of providing special poverty-based aid to the 30 school systems that the state Legislature recognized as having special needs in response to the state Supreme Court's decision in Abbott v. Burke, as well as to other districts in which a large percentage of pupils qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

• For school systems with a smaller concentration of poor students, base aid should be sufficient so that the districts can absorb the costs of implementing special programs for economically disadvantaged students.

NJSBA believes that the Department of Education should provide guidance and technical assistance to all districts in designing programs for disadvantaged children.

For Effective Use of School Funds: Shared Services

NJSBA encourages school districts to share services, such as transportation, special education and administration.

NJSBA believes that the Legislature should eliminate any statutes or regulations that discourage schools and municipalities from consolidating services.

New Jersey citizens clearly want cost effective school operations. Yet, they also want high-quality programming, and they want to maintain local oversight of their communities' schools.

A recent NJSBA study identified effective shared service arrangements among school districts and between school districts and municipalities. Examples include

• Shared food services. In one county, for example, two districts share food service operations under one director. They further save costs by providing meals to a community senior citizens program, providing additional revenues for the school districts and reducing costs for municipal government.

• Shared library services. A central New Jersey school district joined forces with the municipal government to form a library network. The new automated school-community library saved taxpayers $60,000 in library operations and tripled the number of books available to students.

• Shared business services. In south Jersey, one district provides school business services, on a contractual basis, to five other districts. Participating districts' costs are about half of what it would cost to provide these services on their own.

• Sharing a variety of services through "consortium." In northern New Jersey, seven K-8 districts and a 9-12 district enjoy many of the educational and financial benefits of regionalization, while maintaining their schools' community identities. Superintendents meet weekly to coordinate a K-12 curriculum and pupil performance goals. All eight districts are involved in joint purchasing. Five participate in staff development, at a savings of $120,000 to $150,000. The consortium also coordinates grants, maintenance contracts/repairs and special education programs. An analysis of district finances shows that the consortium is as cost effective as the average K-12 regional.

• Sharing a variety of services at the county level. Many school districts share services through county-level educational service commissions. Ten ESCs currently operate in New Jersey, providing a wide variety of services, including special education programming and transportation. In three northwestern New Jersey counties, the ESCs developed a joint program to provide the drug testing of school bus drivers recently mandated by the federal government.

NJSBA believes there exists even greater potential for sharing services. Technology, staff development, summer schools, gifted and talented programs and advanced placement classes are areas in which school districts could share services to save money and also to improve programming.

School-municipal relationships can include recreational facilities, buildings and grounds, vehicle maintenance and staff training.

To encourage the use of shared services, NJSBA advocates the following:

• The Shared Services Cooperation Act. This legislation, developed by NJSBA, would promote voluntary agreements to enhance educational opportunities for students and provide cost effectiveness and accountability. It would also remove potential obstacles to arrangements for shared services among school districts, municipalities, county government and other agencies.

• Statutory authorization to share school administrators. A recently enacted NJSBA legislative goal can help small school districts reduce central administrative costs and direct more funding into classroom programs.

• A Special Education Data Bank. Operated by the state education department, the data base would list all special education classes offered within a region, according to program type, age range and number of student vacancies. The data bank would assist school districts when in-district placement is not available.

• A Transportation Data Bank.

• Educational/municipal/county purchasing cooperatives. These arrangements would enable local government to achieve maximal purchasing power.

PART TWO

The Challenge Ahead: Managing Schools

For Cost-Efficiency: Reforming the State Health Benefits Program

Toward this goal, NJSBA proposes the "Omnibus State Health Benefits Program Reform Bill." The legislation will enable school districts to maintain an adequate level of employee benefits by ensuring that the state program reflects current insurance industry standards. Much-needed cost controls will enable school boards enrolled in the program to direct more public funds to educational programming.

The Problem

• The State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) presents a major obstacle to local school boards' efforts to control the use of public funds and to direct resources to the classroom.

• More than 30 years ago, the Legislature extended the SHBP to local districts "to provide the greatest benefits to public employees in New Jersey at the lowest cost to both employers and employees." Due to its rigid structure, however, the plan has evolved into an inflexible, outdated and expensive insurance program.

• The SHBP mandates an ever-increasing allocation of tax dollars to support an unusually generous benefit package to state, municipal and school employees. At the same time, it does not provide local public employers with the opportunity found throughout the health insurance industry to achieve cost containment and greater efficiency.

The Reasons

Unlike the rules of private insurance carriers, state law and regulation governing the SHBP do not permit local school boards to negotiate certain aspects of coverage.

• Local SHBP participants cannot negotiate employee contributions to the cost of individual coverage.

• They cannot negotiate different levels of coverage for employees.

• Participating boards cannot provide incentives to employees to encourage them to enroll in a managed-care option. They also cannot offer employees incentives to avoid duplicate coverage by not enrolling in the SHBP.

Unlike employers using private insurance carriers, SHBP participants cannot reduce premium costs by negotiating the level of benefits.

• Statute and regulation governing the SHBP mandate an inflexible level of benefits: maximum deductibles of $200 per family and employee co-payment of 20% of the first $2,000 of medical expenses, with the program covering all subsequent charges.

• This rigid structure completely insulates the state insurance plan from the free-market forces that have modified health insurance in the private sector. It has contributed to an exodus of school districts from the plan over the past decade.
  • Currently, about 30% of New Jersey's school districts are enrolled in SHBP. Five years ago, 73% participated.

  The result: districts remaining in the plan face an expensive, mandatory level of employee benefits that diverts funds from the classroom.

Unfortunately, the SHBP structure forces boards enrolled in the program to provide insurance coverage that exceeds both the level of benefits and the costs available through private carriers.

• The majority of New Jersey school boards have obtained significant savings by leaving the SHBP and purchasing insurance coverage from a private carrier. Unfortunately, this option is not available to all local districts.

• For example, boards with fewer than 50 employees have difficulty obtaining private coverage.

• Other districts cannot obtain bids from private carriers because the SHBP has not released districts' utilization rates.

Although the SHBP reduced its rates for 1997-98 and is offering premium-free periods, such changes provide short-term savings only and do not address the design of the plan, which is the source of long-term cost increases.

The Solution

NJSBA supports legislation that would allow local public employers, including school boards, to negotiate levels of employer and employee contribution toward SHBP coverage, to encourage employee participation in managed care, and to establish cafeteria plans in line with federal tax laws. (In March 1996, state government gained authority to negotiate varying levels of employer and employee contributions toward SHBP coverage.)

NJSBA also supports legislation that would allow school districts to offer employees covered by other health plans financial incentives to waive SHBP coverage.

• State law already extends this option to municipalities enrolled in the SHBP.

• It would avoid costly duplicate coverage.

Another initiative, NJSBA's "Omnibus SHBP Reform Bill," would enable school districts to reduce their SHBP costs and direct funds to the education program. It would:

• Establish a 25% co-payment of premiums for full-time employees, with the option for employers and employees to negotiate higher co-payment.

• Increase the plan's major medical deductible from $100 to $200 per year. This change would bring SHBP deductibles closer to current industry practices.

• Provide major medical coverage at 70% of the first $5,000 of expenses, instead of the current 80% of the first $2,000. One hundred percent of expenses above $5,000 would be paid. Existing SHBP ceilings of coverage would remain in effect.

• Allow employers to offer financial incentives to employees for electing to not enroll in the plan to avoid duplicate coverage.

• Permit negotiations over different levels of coverage.

For the Public's Interest: An End to Built-in Employment Costs

NJSBA believes that mandated benefits and related factors circumvent the community's interest in the collective bargaining process, tilt negotiations in favor of the employee unions, and result in higher costs of school employment.

NJSBA proposes the elimination of statutes that increase the cost of employment and interfere with negotiations in local school districts. Specifically, NJSBA seeks legislation to eliminate automatic pay increases (when a new contract settlement has not been reached), to prohibit strikes and other job actions, to repeal legally authorized paid absences when school is in session, and to end other mandated employee benefits.

Automatic Increments

The Problem

Automatic increments drive up the cost of bargaining.

• Until recently, case law required boards to advance teachers on the salary guide when a new school year began even though a new collective bargaining agreement was not in place. A May 8, 1996 New Jersey Supreme Court decision outlawed the awarding of such automatic increments to teachers following the expiration of a three-year agreement. However, the ruling does not affect one-year or two-year teacher contracts, nor does it affect school employees other than teachers. In the future, it is likely that local teachers' unions will attempt to bargain for one- and two-year agreements to preserve the automatic awarding of increments after contract expiration.

• Therefore, while the court's decision is significant, the problem teachers and other school employees receiving automatic salary increases without additional negotiations will continue to plague many school districts.

• Unions perceive the increment as an amount of money that already belongs to them. Consequently, the cost of the increment becomes the absolute minimum upon which the union will negotiate salary adjustments under a new contract.

• Statewide, automatic increments average out to a 2.4% increase in employees' salaries. (In some districts, automatic increments exceed 4.5%.)

• The obligation to pay increments makes it nearly impossible for school boards to negotiate increases at, or below, the cost of the increment.

Automatic salary increases during on-going negotiations reduce the union's need to reach a settlement. Therefore, the pressure to settle falls unequally on the school board.

The Solution

NJSBA strongly supports legislation to eliminate a school board's obligation to pay increments on the salary guide of an expired contract. Eliminating automatic increments would put the parties on an even footing during salary negotiations.

Strikes and Job Actions

The Problem

Even though New Jersey school employees have no legal right to strike, teachers' unions occasionally stage work stoppages to pressure school boards into yielding to bargaining demands.

Judicial penalties for illegal teacher strikes have not served as a sufficient deterrent to union attempts to interrupt students' education.

In addition, the threat of strikes also serves as leverage for unions at the bargaining table. Local unions continue to take strike votes which serve as a tactic in negotiations.

With increasing frequency, local teachers' unions are staging partial work stoppages.

• These "job actions" include boycotts of school activities such as Back-to-School Night and interruptions of normal professional services, such as a refusing to assign homework or to write letters of recommendation for seniors applying to colleges.

• These activities are especially visible and have a negative impact on students. They disrupt the school community and bring pressure on the board to "settle now."

Judicial penalties for partial work stoppages when awarded tend to be mild "cease and desist" orders that can encourage, rather than deter, their use by unions.

The Solution

NJSBA proposes legislation that declares public employee strikes and other job actions illegal and imposes a consistent and uniform statewide system of penalties, including

• A fine against each striking employee, equal to twice the rate of compensation for each day, or part thereof, that the employee has withheld his services.

• A fine against the local union at the rate of $100 per unit member for each day, or part thereof, that services are withheld.

• The loss of the union's automatic dues deduction for one year.

• Any additional penalty deemed appropriate by the court.

NJSBA believes that automatic fines against school employees and their unions would serve as a strong deterrent to strikes and other job actions and would eliminate unions' ability to pressure local boards into premature settlements.

Paid Absences on School Days

The Problem

State law allows teachers to take off certain holidays with pay even though school may be open and students are in class.

Unions have orchestrated the absences of all teachers on these days to shut down the schools.

• This tactic seriously disrupts a district's continuity of instruction.

• Increasingly, employee groups use this tactic to force concessions in negotiations.

This statute, therefore, helps to skew the bargaining process in favor of unions.

The Solution

NJSBA strongly supports legislation that would eliminate the statutory right to a paid day off when school is in session.

Mandated Benefits

The Problem

Over the years, the Legislature has mandated a number of benefits for school employees. Local school boards must bear the cost of these mandated benefits.

In addition to automatic increments, tenure and seniority rights, examples of mandated benefits include:

• A minimum number of sick days (10 per year); accumulation of paid sick days for future use (up to 15 annually).

• Free health coverage for retired school employees (with 25 or more years of service) and their dependents.

• Binding arbitration of disciplinary grievances, which poses the costs of litigation and attorneys' fees.

Many of these statutory entitlements increase the cost of school employment by setting a base level of benefits before negotiations begin. They also deprive school management of the ability to use these issues as bargaining chips to gain agreements that can benefit the school district.

The Solution

NJSBA supports legislation that removes employee benefits from the realm of legislated or court-ordered mandates and into the negotiations process. There, school boards can participate in the determination of terms and conditions of employment which pose costs to the local taxpayer.

For Genuine School Improvement: Tenure Reform

Reform of the current tenure system should be at the heart of any comprehensive discussion of educational improvement and finance.

To this end, NJSBA proposes replacing lifetime tenure for school employees with a system of renewable contract tenure.

Teachers and Other Professional Employees

The Problem

The unparalleled job protection provided by lifetime tenure as well as the difficulty and expense in bringing tenure charges impedes school boards' efforts to retain highly qualified staff.

Because of the enormous time and expense involved in tenure cases, school districts file tenure charges only in the most egregious circumstances. The system, therefore, leaves almost all teachers, even the mediocre, protected through lifetime job security.

The Reasons

Most teachers and other professional employees usually acquire tenure after three years and one day of employment in a position. After that, they cannot be dismissed unless the school board undertakes the long, difficult and expensive process of filing tenure charges before the Commissioner of Education.

• On the average, a tenure case takes close to 16 months to work its way through the system. (That's 16 months from the time the local school board files the charges to the time the state Commissioner of Education makes a decision.)

• During those 16 months, the school district incurs substantial costs: the employee's salary which, by state law, is automatically restored after 120 days even though the teacher remains out of the classroom; the cost of the substitute teacher; and attorney fees. The average cost of filing tenure charges is well into the six-figure range.

• Even if a board proves its case, the Commissioner of Education can opt for a monetary penalty instead of dismissal.

• Moreover, a board faces additional costs and years of additional litigation if either it or the employee appeals the Commissioner's decision.

Tenure established in 1909 has long since outlived its purpose. New Jersey enacted tenure to remove political influence and nepotism from the hiring and firing of school employees. Today, however, a whole body of statute and case law exists which renders tenure obsolete.

• Anti-discrimination statutes prohibit boards from making employment decisions on the basis of race, sex, religion or disability.

• Court decisions protect employees from retaliation or dismissal for exercising their constitutional rights.

• The New Jersey School Ethics Act, enacted in 1992, specifically prohibits board members from using their positions to secure unwarranted privileges or employment for themselves or others.

• Collective bargaining in education, established in the 1960s, provides a level of protection that the authors of the original tenure law could barely imagine.

The Solution

Replace lifetime tenure with a system of "renewable contract employment." Renewable contract tenure represents a reasonable balance among the school system's need for accountability, our students' need for educational excellence, and the employee's need for job security.

• Under this concept, a staff member would have all the protection of tenure during contract periods of three to five years.

• At contract renewal periods, however, school boards would decide upon continuation of employment based on the employee's job performance as reflected in his evaluations.

• In New Jersey a system of renewable contract tenure replaced lifetime tenure for district superintendents in 1991.

Middle Management Tenure

NJSBA believes that central office administrators, principals, vice principals and supervisors are key members of the school board's management team.

Studies of effective schools consistently demonstrate that sound leadership by administrators, especially building principals, is crucial to improving student performance.

NJSBA believes that school boards must have the flexibility to choose the administrators best able to implement their policies and provide leadership in the district.

The Problem

The same laws that confer tenure on teachers and other professional employees also extend the lifetime job protection to the key members of a board's management team assistant superintendents, school business administrators, principals, vice principals and supervisors.

In spite of their critical role as members of the managerial team, these employees can only be dismissed by following the same expensive and lengthy tenure hearing process that applies to teachers.

Lifetime tenure impedes school board efforts to build and maintain an effective management structure geared toward educational excellence.

The Solution

NJSBA proposes elimination of lifetime tenure for middle managers and enactment of legislation providing for three- to five-year contracts for these employees.

Such legislation would be a logical extension of the statute adopted in 1991, which abolished tenure for chief school administrators and replaced it with three- to five-year contracts.

Tenure for Secretaries and Janitors

NJSBA believes that school boards have an obligation to the public to ensure the effective and efficient operation of school districts, including building-and-grounds and office functions.

School boards must select and retain only the best clerical and maintenance staffs.

To this end, NJSBA supports the elimination of tenure protection for school district clerical and maintenance workers.

The Problem

Lifetime tenure exists for secretaries. It also applies to janitors who are not appointed for a fixed term of employment. To school boards, lifetime tenure poses the same difficulty in managing these non-instructional operations as it does in providing an effective educational program.

Lifetime tenure is as outmoded for non-instructional employees as it is for professional staff members.

• Secretaries and janitors are protected by due process provisions and anti-discrimination laws. The New Jersey School Ethics Act also prohibits nepotism or patronage in the hiring or firing of all school employees.

• Secretaries and janitors also enjoy the protection offered by collective bargaining.

The Solution

NJSBA supports the elimination of tenure for secretarial and janitorial employees.

For Sound Personnel Decisions:
Reforming Seniority/Tenure 'Bumping' Rights

NJSBA believes that a school board should be able to rely on criteria, such as a staff member's teaching experience and job performance, when determining whom it will retain on staff after a reduction in force.

The Problem

When a school district implements a staffing reduction, seniority regulations and tenure rights decisions generally force the board to retain the most senior and highly paid employees often in positions in which they have no experience.

Current seniority regulations elevate employee interests over educational considerations.

• They generally prohibit a board from using teaching performance to decide which of several tenured teachers to dismiss in connection with a reduction in force.

• They mandate that boards use years of service in a seniority category as the controlling factor in determining whom to dismiss.

Tenure rights case law has produced a system that is educationally unsound. It entitles tenured staff members to "bump" into positions in which they have absolutely no experience.

• Decisions by the courts and the Commissioner of Education base "bumping rights" exclusively upon an individual's certification and educational background.

• Therefore, a tenured teacher with no actual experience in a subject area, or at a particular grade level, has a right to bump a non-tenured teacher with experience in that subject or grade level.

Tenure rights case law has produced a system that is flawed financially.

• It often forces a school district to retain a more highly paid staff member even though he has less experience in a subject area or grade level than the non-tenured teacher whom he is bumping from the position.

• Teachers who exercise "bumping rights" have immediate tenure in the new assignment and receive a salary that reflects their total years of experience in the district.

The Solution

NJSBA proposes elimination of current seniority regulations and tenure "bumping rights" as part of its overall reform of the lifetime tenure system.

Prior to the complete reform of tenure, NJSBA proposes legislation that would serve as an interim measure by overruling "tenure rights" case law. This legislation would give tenured teaching staff members bumping rights only to positions in which they have had actual experience.

For Top-Quality Teaching: Renewable Certification

NJSBA believes that professional development for all teachers will become even more important as school districts work toward achieving the new statewide curriculum standards.

To enhance staff accountability in the effort to improve instruction and student learning, NJSBA proposes making New Jersey's Standard Instructional Certificate a renewable rather than a lifelong license to teach.

NJSBA believes that eliminating New Jersey's current system of lifetime teacher certification must be part of any comprehensive discussion of educational improvement and financing.

The Problem

New Jersey does not require teachers to continue their education beyond initial preparation. In fact, New Jersey is one of only two states that continues to award a permanent teaching certificate upon completion of entry-level requirements with no requirement for further training. (Texas is the other state.)

• Under current regulations, New Jersey's teachers are awarded a lifetime certificate after their first year of teaching.

• Nearly every other state in the nation requires teachers to continue their education in order to maintain their licenses.

• Forty-five states have renewable certification based on required course work or other professional development activities.

• Two other states (Hawaii and New York) require teachers to undergo training after initial certification.

The current training structure for certified teachers is not specifically aimed at instructional improvement and is inefficient financially.

• Opportunities for teachers to participate in well-designed long-term professional development are limited.

• Although many teachers continue their education beyond initial preparation, there is no requirement that they do so.

• Additional training through in-service programs and/or graduate study is piecemeal and seldom has a direct link to the goals of the school district or to the classroom performance of the teacher and his/her students.

• Currently, the only lasting effect of a teacher accumulating college credits often is his advancement on the local salary guide.

The Solution

NJSBA proposes a system of renewable teacher certification.

• The proposal would require teachers to keep up-to-date in their subject areas and teaching skills to maintain their standard teaching certificates.

• Its goal is to focus professional development activities directly on teachers' classroom responsibilities and thereby improve the quality of instruction.

NJSBA's plan is a three-tier certification system that includes:

• A Provisional Certificate for all newly-employed teachers.

• A Standard Instructional Certificate renewable every five years.

• An optional Master Certificate for experienced teachers who hold a master's degree renewable every seven years.

Under NJSBA's plan, teachers would receive the Standard Instructional Certificate after teaching for one year under the Provisional Certificate and meeting other state criteria.

The Standard Instructional Certificate would be subject to renewal every five years, based on the following factors:

• Completion of 180 clock hours of professional development, which may include no more than six transcript credits (90 clock hours) from an accredited institution of higher education.

• A minimum of three years teaching experience.

• A recommendation based on evaluation of teaching performance.

To satisfy the training requirements, teachers could take advantage of a wide range of activities college courses, conferences offered through professional associations, and in-service training activities within the school district.

NJSBA's proposal would tie professional development and certificate renewal to the staff evaluation process. It would focus professional development activities on improving instruction in the classroom not simply on advancing the employee on the salary guide.

• The supervisor's identification of areas in which the staff member may need additional training to enhance skills or to keep abreast of new developments would influence the teacher's professional development.

NJSBA's renewable certification plan would dovetail with existing state requirements for annual professional improvement plans for individual teachers, as well as district-wide plans for professional development. These plans are based on teaching staff needs, are linked to pupil performance, and are integrated with the curriculum.

Under the plan, experienced teachers who hold a master's degree could attain a third level of certification, the Master Teacher Certificate. The Master Teacher Certificate would be subject to renewal every seven years.

• Candidates for the Master Teacher Certificate would hold advanced degrees in education or a related field and have a minimum of six years of teaching experience under the Standard Instructional Certificate.

• Additional qualifications include completion of professional development requirements, current employment in a teaching position in a local school district, and the recommendation of the local school board based on evaluation of teaching performance, leadership skills and other criteria as set by the New Jersey State Board of Education.

For renewal of the Master Teacher Certificate, the staff member would meet the following criteria within the preceding seven years:

• Four years of teaching experience.

• Current employment as a teacher.

• Completion of 180 clock hours of professional development or the equivalent in transcript credits/continuing education units, instructional leadership activities/mentorship.

• Local school district recommendation based on evaluation of teaching performance.

Rather than restricting professional development to college courses, NJSBA's plan encompasses conferences offered through professional organizations and in-service training activities within the school district. Moreover, NJSBA's concept also allows activities such as curriculum projects and mentoring of new teachers to count toward the professional development requirements.